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v & ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.)

a. OLIVER. Apparatus for Use in Theatrical Performances.

No. 233,273. Patented Oct. 12,1880.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR: Z0. w

N.FEI'ERS. PN0T0-L\I\'HOGIIAFNER1 WASHINGTON. D. C.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE OLIVER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR USE IN THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,273, dated October 12, 1880. Application filed July 2, 1880. (N 0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE OLIVER, of the City Road, London, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Use in Theatrical Performances, (Case 0 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in the apparatus for use in gymnastic or theatrical performances for which two applications for Letters Patent in the United States were filed on my behalf on the 19th day of June, 1880; and the invention consists in the combination, with the springs and the wire by which the performer is raised, of a drum and brake interposed between the springs and the wire for the purpose of taking up the slack of the wire after the performer has received an upward impetus from the springs, and of retaining the performer at any height to which he may be raised and checking his descent.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, the spring being distended, and Fig. 2 is a plan with the springs relaxed.

A is a platform, upon which the whole apparatus is mounted. It is hung by suitable guys and stays or otherwise supported by any suitable means beneath the roof of the stage.

b are the india-rubber springs, permanently attached at one end to a sliding disk, 0, and loosely hooked at the other ends to hooks on the edges of a stationary disk, d. A few only of the springs are represented; but it will be understood that they are as numerous and as strong as required, according to the weight of the performer.

The disk (1 is fixed to a standard rising from the platform A, and the other disk, 0, is movable along two horizontal guide-rods, f, fixed at one end to disk 01 and at the other to small brackets rising from platform A.

k is a strap, attached at one end by a swivel to the center of the disk 0, and hooked onto a pin, g, in the groove 9 of a barrel, B, upon which the strap k is wound, as hereinafter described. This barrel is provided with three circumferential grooves, g h z, of unequal width, the groove 9 being the widest, the groove h a little less in width than g, and 41 less than k, and is mounted on a horizontal axis turning in pillow-blocks l. The groove h of the barrel is of the same diameter as groove 9, and the lifting-wire m is wound upon the barrel in the said groove in the opposite direction to that in which the strap k is wound. The narrow grooved of the barrel receives a leather brakestrap, n.

0 is a bolt for locking the barrel while the springs are being distended, and until the moment for using the apparatus arrives. This bolt passes through a bracket and enters a hole in the barrel, and it is inserted or withdrawn by a hand-lever, p. The brake-strap n is attached at one end to platform A, and passes underneath the barrel and is attached to and operated by another hand-lever, r.

The method of using the apparatus is as follows The performer wears a harness like that described in one of my before-recited applications for Letters Patent, provided with a means of attachment to an eye on the end of the wire m. The springs being all disconnected from the disk 01, the strap is is first hooked onto the pin g and the barrel rotated to wind up the strap thereon, and at the same time unwind and lower down the end of the wire m. The barrel is then fixed by the bolt 0, and the springs are then separately distended by manual power and hooked onto the disk (I. The apparatus is then ready for use. The eye on the end of the wire is then attached to the harness worn by the performer, (this being, of course, done out of sight of the audience,) and on a given signal the bolt 0 is withdrawn by the lever 10, whereupon the springs are released, and by their contractible power impart a rapid rotary motion to the barrel, whereby the performer is suddenly jerked upward to a considerable height. As the height to which the performer is projected is several times greater than the contraction of the springs, it is necessary that the end of the strap is should be instantly disconnected from the barrel at the moment the springs cease to act, so as to leave the barrel (which is made solid and heavy for the purpose) free to continue rotating, in order to wind up all the slack of the wire,which would otherwise be in the performers way. The performer, on being projected to the proper height, catches a trapeze, horizontal bar, or

other support; but should he fail to do so he is prevented falling again when the force of the upward movement is expended by applying the brake-strap n by means of handle 1*, so that the performer may either remain suspended or 5 be lowered again as slowly as may be desired. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- The combination, with the spring lifting apparatus and the wire to which the performer is 10 attached, of a barrel to which a strap or other connection from the springs is loosely attached, 

